Learn Hardcore Malay: Biasanya saya minum kopi pagi sebelum pergi ke pejabat. - Usually I drink coffee in the morning before going to the office.

Biasanya means “usually.” In Malay, adverbs of frequency often appear at the very beginning of a sentence to express habitual actions. If you prefer, you can also say Saya biasanya minum kopi pagi... (placing the adverb after the subject) with no change in meaning.

Why isn’t there any tense marking on minum?

Malay verbs do not inflect for tense. Instead, time is conveyed by adverbs (biasanya, pagi) or by adding explicit time words (e.g., kemarin for “yesterday”). The verb minum remains the same whether the action is past, present, or future.

Why is it kopi pagi and not pagi kopi?

Malay noun phrases follow a Head-Noun + Modifier order. Here kopi (the head noun) comes first, followed by pagi (the modifier meaning “morning”), so kopi pagi literally translates to “coffee morning,” i.e. “morning coffee.”

Why is saya (I) included here, and can I omit it?

Saya is the first-person singular pronoun (“I”). In Malay it’s perfectly normal to drop the pronoun when context is clear. So Biasanya minum kopi pagi sebelum pergi ke pejabat still means “I usually drink coffee in the morning before going to the office.” Including saya makes the sentence clearer or more formal.

How does sebelum work in this sentence?

Sebelum means “before” and acts as a subordinating conjunction. It introduces a dependent clause. You can say sebelum pergi ke pejabat or, if you want to repeat the subject, sebelum saya pergi ke pejabat. Repeating the subject after sebelum is optional when it’s obvious.

Why do we say pergi ke pejabat instead of just pergi pejabat?

To express movement toward a location, Malay uses the preposition ke (“to”). Thus pergi ke pejabat is “go to the office.” You use the same pattern for pergi ke sekolah, pergi ke pasar, etc.

There’s no word for “the” or “a” here. How do we know if kopi is specific or general?

Malay doesn’t have articles. Kopi can be “coffee” in general, “coffee” you habitually drink, or even “a cup of coffee,” depending on context. If you need specificity, you can add words like itu (that), ini (this), or quantify with sebuah cawan kopi (“a cup of coffee”).

Can I make it more formal by using pada pagi hari instead of pagi?

Yes. You could say
Biasanya saya minum kopi pada pagi hari sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
Here pada pagi hari also means “in the morning” and sounds a bit more formal or literary.

What’s the difference between biasanya and selalu?

Both relate to frequency but have different shades:

Selalu = “always” or “very often” (close to 100% of the time).
Biasanya = “usually” (most of the time, but not always).
So you’d say Saya selalu minum kopi if you never skip, but Saya biasanya minum kopi if there are occasional exceptions.